Gold futures gain after Greece austerity vote approval

Forexpros - Gold futures rose for the first time in three days on Monday, easing off a two-week low as the U.S. dollar weakened after Greece's parliament passed a crucial vote over the weekend needed to avoid a messy sovereign debt default.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded at USD1,734.95 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, gaining 0.56%.      

It earlier rose by as much as 0.6% to trade at a session high USD1,735.25 a troy ounce.

Futures were likely to find support at USD1,706.85 a troy ounce, Friday’s low and the lowest since January 26 and resistance at USD1,754.95, the high from February 9.

Greek lawmakers approved on Sunday a set of spending and wage cuts needed to secure the country’s EUR130 billion bailout package and avoid a sovereign debt default.

The controversial austerity measures were approved by a 199-74 vote, with 27 lawmakers abstaining from the vote, according to reports.

Attention now shifts to a meeting Wednesday of euro zone finance ministers, who will discuss the approval of the debt-laden country’s second bailout before a March 20 deadline.

Greece has a EUR14.5 billion bond repayment due on March 20 and requires the bailout funding in order to be able to make that payment and avoid a messy default.

The news helped push the euro higher against the U.S. dollar, while the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, shed 0.4% to trade at 78.80.  

Dollar weakness usually benefits gold, as it boosts the metal's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Also supporting prices, the CME Group, operator of the Comex reduced the amount of cash that traders must deposit for speculative positions by 12% to USD10,125.

The new rates will be effective after the close of trading Monday, the company said in a statement late Thursday. Exchanges require market participants to post margin to cover potential losses in future trading sessions, and to avoid a default by a trader.
 
Gold prices came under selling pressure on Friday, dropping to a two-week low as concerns over a chaotic default grew after Greek media reported that a junior member of the country’s three-party ruling coalition refused to back the austerity measures and offered to resign.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery rose 1.1% to trade at USD33.96 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery jumped 1.05% to trade at USD3.902 a pound.

The CME Group announced that it also reduced the amount of collateral that traders must provide to trade copper and silver futures. Costs to trade Comex copper futures will fall 13% and costs to trade silver futures will decline 14%.